Happy New Year.
Here’s hoping the new year brings peace, prosperity, happiness and health to all of you.
I’ll use this version of 10 Weekend Thoughts to look back on the stories that shaped 2018 and look ahead to the stories we’ll be following in 2019.
As is always customary for this particular piece, I’ll count backwards (a skill taught me at Harvard on the Bayou just before final exams) from 10-1 as we ring in the new year.
10. Andy Kennedy called me on a Sunday afternoon. He opened the conversation by asking if I’d published 10 thoughts yet. I told him I hadn’t but I also told him I’d planned to open the column by saying the time had come for he and Ole Miss to end the suspense and say that March would be the end of his tenure in Oxford.
He knew it was time. Everyone following the program did. Kennedy told me to hold off on going far with that theme, hinting an announcement was indeed forthcoming. A day later, this site broke the news that Kennedy would be stepping down at the end of the season. Two losses later, Kennedy moved up the timetable and walked away from the job he held for a dozen years.
Ole Miss’ season finished on the first day of the SEC tournament in St. Louis, with Kennedy in the building as part of the SEC Network. Like I said then, it was time, but there was a tinge of sadness in the air that Kennedy’s time in Oxford ended the way it did.
His last team was a bad one, and it was fragile. Once it lost its confidence, it was over and there was no getting it back. Kennedy lost that team, and he was man enough to admit it. Kennedy always said you are what the numbers say you are, and therefore, Ole Miss had to make a change. He took the high road on his exit. He could’ve blamed Jeffrey Vitter, but publicly, he didn’t. Others, however…
9. I was covering the SEC baseball tournament in Hoover, Ala., when the persistence of the conversations about Vitter’s future hit the point where I not only could report but where I also felt compelled to report. The chancellor had been told, I reported on a Saturday afternoon following Ole Miss’ win over Texas A&M, that his contract would not be renewed when it expired in June 2020.
The IHL denied that report without actually denying it. From there, it was painfully obvious Vitter couldn’t make it to the end of his deal. By November, the news broke, this time courtesy of Chase Parham, that Vitter’s tenure would end at the end of 2018.
Vitter’s legacy, fairly or not, will be largely related to athletics. He oversaw an NCAA investigation which went horribly for Ole Miss. He butchered Kennedy’s situation and he intervened in a football coaching search.
Vitter also saw enrollment drop, donations lag and morale crater. He had to go, but we’ll always have those memories of the great hostage video.
8. I skipped a thought there for dramatic effect, so forgive me for going backwards for a minute.
In late March, Ole Miss hired Middle Tennessee coach Kermit Davis to replace Kennedy. It became apparent quickly that the Mississippi native and former Mississippi State player was a perfect fit in Oxford.
Davis took the Rebels to Canada in the summer, a trip that sped up the process of installing Davis’ patented 1-3-1 zone and changing some of the culture inside his new program.
Through 12 games, Ole Miss is 10-2, and the Rebels head to Vanderbilt Saturday to open SEC play ranked No. 44 in the NET.
The Rebels’ guard play has been excellent so far this season, and their post play _ considered their massive wart entering the year _ has been OK at times.
More importantly, the Rebels’ defense has been excellent. They’ve moved the ball, shared the ball and played with passion. They appear to be having fun, and it’s readily apparent the players, both old and new, have completely bought in to Davis’ coaching and system.
7. I mentioned Hoover earlier. A day after the Vitter news broke, Ole Miss defeated LSU in the SEC Championship Game, wrapping up a national top-eight seed and looking every bit the part of a team headed to Omaha for the College World Series.
After losing on the opening day of the tournament, Ole Miss rattled off wins over Georgia, Auburn, Texas A&M and LSU, turning Hoover Metropolitan Stadium into Swayze East for a weekend.
About an hour after the finale, I exited The Met, headed for my truck and a trip home. The skies opened. It was a vicious thunderstorm. I got soaked. I could barely see the road. Turns out, it was probably an omen for things to come.
6. Eight days later, that team that looked unbeatable lost twice on a Monday to Tennessee Tech, ending an incredibly promising season in devastating fashion.
The next few weeks saw a fan base grieve. Mississippi State made it to Omaha, making it even worse. Arkansas, which shared the SEC West title with Ole Miss, came one strike away from winning the national championship before losing to Oregon State.
Some seven months later, that disappointing day against Tennessee Tech still resonates. Ole Miss will likely open the season in February as a top-15 team, but fans will be skeptical until and unless Ole Miss wins a regional.
5. Ole Miss’ football season was predictable, really. The Rebels played their best game in the opener in Houston, beating Texas Tech.
A week later, in a win over Southern Illinois, Ole Miss gave up 38 first-half points. From there, it was all angst and frustration. The Rebels went 5-7, losing their final five games of the season. That stretch was brutal, as Ole Miss blew a fourth-quarter lead against South Carolina, lost in controversial fashion in overtime at Vanderbilt and then got blown out in Oxford against Mississippi State.
The next morning, defensive coordinator Wesley McGriff was fired, the first of several changes to come over the next month.
4. In December, over a wild 72-hour period, Ole Miss’ search for McGriff’s replacement went into hyperdrive.
The Rebels targeted two candidates — Alabama linebackers coach Pete Golding and former Colorado coach Mike MacIntyre. We reported on a Wednesday night (I think it was Wednesday; weeks later, those days still run together) Golding had agreed to terms — three years, $1.5 million per year — to become Ole Miss’ new defensive coordinator.
Over the next two days, Golding basically ghosted Ole Miss before the Rebels finally went in a different direction, landing MacIntyre to the same three-year, $4.5 million deal.
My opinion: MacIntyre is who Matt Luke wanted all along. Golding would’ve been a big splash on the recruiting trail, but Luke was more comfortable with MacIntyre, who has had head coaching stints at San Jose State and Colorado and whom Luke has known for decades.
3. Of course, that recruiting splash would’ve been nice. Ole Miss made a big production of #MississippiMade over the past 12 months or so, and when the early signing period rolled around on Dec. 19, things didn’t go as planned. Horn Lake’s Nakobe Dean signed with Georgia. His teammate, Raydarious Jones, signed with LSU. Lafayette’s Brandon Turnage signed with Alabama. Gulfport’s Derick Hall signed with Auburn.
The reaction from Ole Miss fans was justifiable anger and talk of a win-or-else 2019 season gained traction — at least with frustrated ticket-holders.
2. On Friday night, a Twitter account owned by Bunkie Perkins published photos of Luke meeting with former West Virginia, Michigan and Arizona coach Rich Rodriguez in Oxford. A day later, Luke and Rodriguez met for breakfast and then talked football before Rodriguez left town. By Sunday afternoon, the news was breaking (courtesy of Mr. Parham) that Rodriguez had agreed to terms to become Ole Miss’ new offensive coordinator.
What does that mean? Well, it gives Ole Miss an offensive coordinator who checks a lot of the boxes Luke was looking to check. Rodriguez is excellent at using the talent he has on hand. He can build offenses around the run. He can built them around the pass. I was covering the SEC as a whole back in 2006 when Daphne, Ala., product Pat White, an athletic quarterback who didn’t get SEC offers because of his lack of a big-time arm, combined with running back Steve Slaton to help make West Virginia a national power. I spent some time in Morgantown around the Mountaineers’ program, and it was clear Rodriguez had his home-state team very prominently on the national stage.
Later that fall, Rodriguez famously changed his mind and turned down Alabama. A year later, Rodriguez bolted for Michigan. I’ve always wondered if he wishes he had some do-overs. Perhaps I’ll get a chance to ask him about that. Who knows?
Regardless, the hirings of MacIntyre and Rodriguez are home-run hires for Luke. They speak volumes for his commitment to winning and for his selflessness. It also speaks to Ole Miss’ commitment to Luke. I’ve said this repeatedly over the past few days, and I think I’m right: Luke isn’t coaching for his job in 2019. Yes, Ole Miss has to show progress and the product on the field must improve as the season goes on, but this is going to be a young team playing a difficult schedule.
There will come a day when Luke will judged strictly by wins and losses. I just don’t think that day comes in 2019. The financial commitment to his new coordinators supports my belief, in my opinion.
1. The new year promises to be a fascinating one. Ole Miss is searching for a new chancellor, and sometimes change begets more change. Who is making decisions? Who has power and how much power does he or she have? Answering those questions is purely speculative at this point.
As I mentioned, SEC play in basketball begins on Saturday. Ole Miss plays Vanderbilt, Auburn and Mississippi State in the first eight days of league play. We’ll know what they’re all about very soon. My opinion: There’s not enough margin for error for this team to be an NCAA Tournament participant, but I think they’re going to be fun to watch. The future for Ole Miss basketball appears to be very bright.
Baseball season begins in February and the Rebels should be nationally competitive. The only way to make that Monday disaster go away is to get to Omaha, and that’s one hell of a high bar to have to shoot for. The talent is there. The wins will be abundant. However, this team, more so than almost any in previous seasons under Mike Bianco, will be judged by how many of those wins come in June.
Spring football will be interesting, if nothing else. MacIntyre and Rodriguez have systems to install, and the Rebels will be a very young football team. The season is difficult, and September will likely tell much of the tale. Ole Miss opens at Memphis and returns home a week later to face Arkansas. Those games will likely shape the mood of the fan base, though I have an early feeling that the quality staff makeover Luke and Co. have engineered has quieted some of that hot-seat talk.
For me, 2018 was a good year. I started a new podcast with Jay G. Tate (and later Gabe DeArmond) called The Greatest Pod In The South, presented by Cathead Distillery. It’s often been 90 or so of the most fun minutes I have each week. I believe this site is better today than it’s ever been, and our analytics back that up. We signed a new deal with rivals.com and Oath in 2018, so you’re likely stuck with us for a while. At at time when our industry is suffering major upheaval, we’ve found a way (knock on wood) to establish some stability.
Personally, my life is changing. I spent a good bit of the spring and summer visiting college campuses with our oldest, Campbell. She’ll turn 18 on May 1, graduate from Oxford High School a few weeks later and then leave for college in August. I’ll go with her to Fayetteville in June for college orientation. It hasn’t really hit me yet; she works two jobs and has a busy social life, so it’s not like she’s around the house all day every day. Still, I know pulling away from the University of Arkansas in August without her in tow is going to be difficult. I’m excited for her, though. She’s excited and ready to move to a new chapter in her life.
I’ll miss some of the drives to Ruston and Fayetteville and Norman and Auburn to check out schools. She probably got tired of me, but we had some fun talks on those drives and got to know each other in ways we hadn’t before. She’s a great kid. She’ll do great.
Campbell, Caroline and I went to Washington earlier this month. I’ve always taken boys trips with Carson because of our mutual love of the Chicago Cubs, but I’d always hoped to do a girls trip. We squeezed a lot into four days, and I was reminded how thankful I am for the flexibility of my job and the quality of the people who I work with.
Carson and I go to Chicago next month so he can once again quiz Theo Epstein on the status of the Cubs’ pursuit (or lack thereof) of Bryce Harper. The rest of the year, I suspect, will be about preparing for and adjusting to change.
I’m not a big New Year’s resolution guy. I think it just sets up more failure. There’s this part of me that wants to run a fifth marathon before I turn 50, but that means I’ve got a little more than a year to do that, and I question why five is a better number than four and why I’d want to do that to my body again.
My mom and my daughters have encouraged me to try to publish the children’s book I wrote for my kids years ago. That seems far too daunting of a task; I’m sure not going to resolve to get that done in the next 365 days.
So I’ll stick with the basic resolution I’ve had for the past few years. I’ll just try to be a little better guy, a little better friend, a little better dad, a little better husband, son, brother, etc. I’ve found that’s hard enough.
So again, Happy New Year to each of you. If you’re making crazy, life-changing resolutions, good luck. Thanks for being here and being part of this site and this community. We’ll work to make 2019 better than 2018.
We will resume the Oxford Exxon Podcast on Wednesday and we'll have coverage of basketball, recruiting and whatnot this week. Until then, here are some links of interest to me _ and hopefully, to you:
The Players Who Will Define the NBA in 2019 - The Ringer
Tum Tum Nairn Masters the Rare College Player-to-NBA Assistant Transition
Anthony Davis trade talk is the biggest story in the NBA in 2019
‘A star in his role’ — The paradox of Lonzo Ball in the shadow of LeBron – The Athletic
Thompson: A night, an attitude and an era that Oakland Raiders fans never wanted to end
1993 Prestonsburg Blackcats know how a high school football loss can linger - The Washington Post
I Used to Write for Sports Illustrated. Now I Deliver Packages for Amazon.
10 Red Flags Chefs Look for When Dining Out, According to Reddit | Food & Wine - foodandwine.com
35 Things That Actually Helped People Overcome Depression And Anxiety - readbloomjoy.com
